Ford to lay off 700 workers due to slow car sales

US car giant Ford says it is cutting 700 jobs at a Michigan assembly plant to compensate for declining sales.

Ford Motor Co. said in a statement issued on Thursday that the first 200 workers will be laid off in June at the Michigan Assembly Plant, in the Detroit suburb of Wayne, another 200 at the end of July and the remainder at the end of September.

Low gasoline prices have hurt the sales of the plant, which produces small cars and hybrids. Ford officials said consumers are not buying what the plant is producing.

The automaker hopes it can find new jobs for all laid-off workers within a year.

In January, President Barack Obama visited the Michigan Assembly Plant to hail the “resurgent” US auto industry. But the plant was briefly shut down even during his visit to prevent overproduction of the slow-selling cars.

In July 2013, Detroit, the birthplace of the US auto industry, became the largest American city to ever file for bankruptcy protection.

In December 2013, a federal judge ruled that Detroit was eligible for bankruptcy in what has become the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history. The city is $18.5 billion in debt.